Russell Brand was facing a new storm last night after attacking the thousands of BBC licence fee payers who complained over his abusive rant at Fawlty Towers star Andrew Sachs.

Brand was forced to quit his BBC Radio 2 show in 2008 after The Mail on Sunday exposed obscene answer-machine messages which he and co-presenter Jonathan Ross left for Mr Sachs, then 78.But in an interview with today's Desert Island Discs, the 38-year-old actor says the incident - dubbed 'Sachsgate' - was a 'dishonest scandal'.

He claims many of the 42,000 people who complained to the BBC either had no real idea of what they were complaining about or were motivated by an anti-BBC agenda. Brand said it was telling that the broadcast of the messages had attracted just two complaints - and that number only swelled in the light of what he said was hostile press coverage.

Russell Brand pictured with then-wife Katy Perry, at the 2011 Grammys claims many of the 42,000 people who complained to the BBC either had no real idea of what they were complaining about

He says: 'There was obviously a pre-existing agenda in privately owned media to destabilise, attack and diminish the BBC.' When Desert Island Discs host Kirsty Young challenges him about whether viewers were motivated by the same agenda, he says: 'They were. Of course they were.'

But attacking his remarks, Tory MP Philip Davies, a member of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said: 'Of course the people who complained at the time were genuinely offended by this man's actions. The fact that he doesn't seem to realise that shows that he hasn't learnt anything.'

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The messages left by Brand and Ross concerned Mr Sachs' granddaughter Georgina Baillie, a burlesque dancer and Brand's former girlfriend. He tells Ms Young the fact the comedy veteran was booked as a future guest on the same show showed the incident in a different light. Brand says: 'The situation with the granddaughter had been talked about in a previous show.

'I would always talk about things from my personal life on that radio show in a relatively respectful, cheeky way. The subsequent week Andrew Sachs was booked to come on the show as a guest on the phone.

How we broke the story of the messages left by Brand and Ross concerned Mr Sachs' granddaughter

'I think what people imagined happened is that I went, "Right, let's leave a message for Andrew Sachs." That is not what happened. What happened was he didn't answer the phone and so I said, "Right, let's leave a message." '

Brand says he accepts it was 'really, really wrong' to leave 'embarrassing and upsetting messages'.

But he adds: 'It is offensive if someone calls up an answerphone, does some swearing and hangs up. But if, incrementally, that act is led to by a series of innuendo and jokes, it's a different thing. It's still a thing that is wrong but it is not the thing that they are offended by.'

Brand also says his desire to start a family is 'almost unseemly' - but refuses to talk about his failed marriage to Katy Perry.

Last night Andrew Sachs said: 'My thoughts are the same as they were. We kept silent at the time and I don't want to have an opinion on it. If he wants to think it's a dishonest scandal, then that's up to him.'